One reason the color may not look the same as it appeared in the store or someone else’s home is due to the light source. Lighting can change the way colors look in your home or office. Choosing the right color is often one of the biggest challenges when doing a painting project
A phenomenon called metamerism is the way that affects how the same color looks in different lighting. The lighting we choose to use in our homes can have a huge effect on the way we perceive color.
There are four common types of artificial lighting in most houses that affect the appearance of paint colors. They include halogen, fluorescent, LED, and incandescent. When considering which of these types of artificial light sources to use in your home, it’s important to think about how it will enhance or diminish a room’s existing color scheme.
1. Fluorescent Lights
Fluorescent lights give off a bluish tint which makes warm paint colors such as red and orange look dull. Warm yellowish lighting intensifies warm colors, while lighting with a bluish tint works well with greens and blues. There are fluorescent lights with a pinkish tinge that softens cool paint colors.
2. Incandescent Lights
Incandescent lights cast a more yellowish light which dulls cool colors and enhances warm ones. The color of the light will either intensify the wall paint color if it’s from the same color family or dull it if it’s a complementary color.
3. Halogen
This lighting is comparable to sunlight. It produces a whiter light and makes all colors look more vivid. Halogen lights don’t change the appearance of colors as much as other types of lighting and would make the shift from daylight to artificial light less dramatic. Halogen works well with both warm and cool colors.
4. LED
Light-emitting diodes, or LEDS, can be used against all colors and are flexible across the color spectrum.
5. Natural Light
Natural light should always be considered when choosing a paint color. As the amount and angle of the sun changes, so will your room’s paint colors. Natural light affects colors differently depending on the direction the room is facing outward toward the light.
- East-Facing Rooms: East light is warm and yellowy before noon, then turns bluer later in the day. These are great rooms for warm colors.
- West-Facing Rooms: West light will make already warm colors look more saturated.
- North-Facing Rooms: Northern light gives off a bluish tint. Light paint colors will look subdued, while bolder colors will look more vivid.
- South-Facing Rooms: Southern light works well with warm and cool colors. Darker colors will look brighter.